Deconstructing Depth of Knowledge

what many educators have been craving— a demystification of Depth of Knowledge.

In addition to providing practical, quality descriptors of each of the four DOK levels, he shares how the DOK levels can serve as a method and model that inform how teaching and learning experiences can be developed, delivered, and deepened.

Connecting DOK to learning intentions and success criteria and showing educators how they can align this work with their approach to tiered intervention make this book a must-have for all educators.”

• Discover how Depth of Knowledge works as a method, model, and mindset for teaching and learning • Ascertain the DOK level of academic standards, tasks, and assessments • Ask questions that prompt reflection at deeper DOK levels • Complete professional development activities on effectively using Depth of Knowledge

Knowledge demystifies the academic framework that has become the go-to for teaching and learning. His narrative guidance on the classroom application of Depth of Knowledge empowers readers to apply this theoretical academic framework to real teaching and instruction. As Francis explains throughout, DOK isn’t another ‘thing’ to do.

It's a way of thinking and being that leads to effective teaching and learning. Accessible explanations paired with instructional exemplars make this book an essential resource for all teachers and leaders.”

—KATIE MCKNIGHT CEO and Founder, Engaging Learners

Visit go.SolutionTree.com/instruction to download the free reproducibles in this book.

SOLUTIONTREE.COM

ISBN 978-1-951075-15-6 90000

9 781951 075156

FRANCIS

• Gain reproducible tools for deconstructing learning intentions and creating a DOK teaching and learning plan

“Erik Francis’s Deconstructing Depth of

of

KNOWLEDGE

A Method and Model for Deeper Teaching and Learning

K–12 teachers and leaders will:

—TOM HIERCK Educational Consultant and Author

DEPTH D E C O N S T R U C T I N G

KNOWLEDGE

Norman Webb’s Depth of Knowledge has become a priority in education to describe levels of cognitive complexity, but schools often misapply the framework in practice. Author Erik M. Francis clears up this confusion with his book Deconstructing Depth of Knowledge: A Method and Model for Deeper Teaching and Learning. This resource clearly defines Depth of Knowledge (DOK) and explains how the DOK levels can inform educators’ delivery and intensity of instruction. Through the method and model that Francis presents, readers will be able to determine the cognitive demand of academic standards, activities, and test items and provide responsive, supportive, and academically rigorous learning experiences for all their students.

DEPTH

A Method and Model for Deeper Teaching and Learning

DECONSTRUCTING

“In this book, Erik Francis has achieved

A Method and Model for Deeper Teaching and Learning

E R I K

M .

F R A N C I S

FOREWORD BY KARIN HESS

Copyright © 2022 by Solution Tree Press Materials appearing here are copyrighted. With one exception, all rights are reserved. Readers may reproduce only those pages marked “Reproducible.” Otherwise, no part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission of the publisher.

Norman Webb developed Webb’s Depth-of-Knowledge definitions in 1997 as a tool to analyze alignment between curriculum standards and assessments. At the time he was a Senior Research Scientist for the Wisconsin Center for Education Research and was funded in part by the National Science Foundation (cooperative agreement No. RED-9452971). The DOK definitions describe levels or categories of cognitive complexity. They are not intended to represent progressions in learning or instructional levels.

The Wisconsin Center for Education Products and Services (WCEPS) manages WebbAlign™, the trademark for Webb’s DOK™. Updated definitions and supporting materials can be found at www.webbalign.org.

555 North Morton Street Bloomington, IN 47404 800.733.6786 (toll free) / 812.336.7700 FAX: 812.336.7790 email: info@SolutionTree.com SolutionTree.com Visit go.SolutionTree.com/instruction to download the free reproducibles in this book.

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021040147

Solution Tree Jeffrey C. Jones, CEO Edmund M. Ackerman, President Solution Tree Press President and Publisher: Douglas M. Rife Associate Publisher: Sarah Payne-Mills Managing Production Editor: Kendra Slayton Editorial Director: Todd Brakke Art Director: Rian Anderson Copy Chief: Jessi Finn Production Editor: Alissa Voss Content Development Specialist: Amy Rubenstein Copy Editor: Kate St. Ives Proofreader: Elisabeth Abrams Text and Cover Designer: Kelsey Hergül Editorial Assistants: Sarah Ludwig and Elijah Oates

TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S Reproducible pages are in italics.

About the Author. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

xi

Foreword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 The Four Tenets of DOK. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 What’s in This Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Who This Book Is For. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

PA R T O N E

UNDERSTANDING DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE

1 2

7

What Exactly Is Depth of Knowledge? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Depth of Knowledge Deconstructed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Understanding Depth of Knowledge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

What Are DOK Teaching and Learning Experiences? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 How to Develop DOK Teaching and Learning Experiences . . . . . . . . 27 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Understanding Depth of Knowledge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

vii

viii

DECONSTRUCTING DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE

3

How Can DOK Teaching and Learning Experiences Be Developed and Delivered?. . . . . . . . 49 How to Plan and Provide DOK Teaching and Learning Experiences . . 50 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

4

Understanding Depth of Knowledge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

How Could the DOK Levels Serve as a Multitiered System of Supports? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 How to Tier DOK Teaching and Learning Experiences . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Understanding Depth of Knowledge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

PART II

USING DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE

5

83

How to Deconstruct Learning Intentions for Depth of Knowledge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 How to Deconstruct a Learning Intention to Determine the Depth of Knowledge Demanded . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Using Depth of Knowledge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

6

DOK Chart for Deconstructing Learning Intentions. . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

How to Designate the DOK Level a Task Demands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 How to Designate the DOK Level. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 How to Proceed If the Learning Intention Has More Than One Objective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106 How to Proceed If the DOK Level Is Unclear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 How to Use the DOK Descriptors as a Checks and Balances System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 Using Depth of Knowledge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114 DOK Chart for Determining the Depth of Knowledge Demanded by a Learning Intention. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Table of Contents

7

How to Construct DOK Learning Targets and Success Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

ix

117

How to Develop a DOK Teaching and Learning Plan. . . . . . . . . . . . . 118 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 Using Depth of Knowledge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 DOK Learning Target Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

8

DOK Teaching and Learning Plan Template. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

How to Ask and Address Good Questions for Depth of Knowledge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 How to Understand and Use Good Questions for Depth of Knowledge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Using Depth of Knowledge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

9

From Targets to Criteria to Questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Let’s Make a DOK! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 DOK 1: TV Quiz Show. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 DOK 2: Instructional TV Shows and DIY Videos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160 DOK 3: Skills-Based Reality TV Competitions and Roundtable Discussions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 DOK 4: Business and Professional Reality TV Shows. . . . . . . . . . . 162 Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 Using Depth of Knowledge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Epilogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 References and Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Erik M. Francis, MEd, MS, is an international author and presenter who specializes in teaching and learning for cognitive rigor. An educator for over twenty-five years, Erik has experience as a classroom teacher, a site administrator, an education program specialist with a state education agency, and a professional development trainer. Erik is the owner of Maverik Education, providing professional development and consultation on developing and delivering authentic, student-centered educational experiences. His areas of expertise include Depth of Knowledge (DOK), questioning and inquiry, authentic learning, differentiated instruction, personalized learning, and talent development.

Erik has conducted professional development trainings and workshops at K–12 schools, colleges, and universities throughout the United States and internationally.

His academic seminars have been featured at national, state, and regional education conferences hosted by organizations such as ASCD, Learning Forward, the College Board, the Association for Middle Level Education, the National Association for Gifted Children, the National Teacher Center, and the Southern Regional Education Board. He has extensive experience working with students who are academically at risk, gifted and talented (GT) students, English learners (EL or ELL), and exceptional students with special needs.

Erik is the author of Now That’s a Good Question! How to Promote Cognitive Rigor Through Classroom Questioning. He was also ranked as one of the world’s Top Thirty Education Professionals for 2019 by the research organization Global Gurus.

xi

xii

DECONSTRUCTING DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE

Erik received a master’s degree in education leadership from Northern Arizona University and a master of science in television, radio, and film production and management from the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. He also holds a bachelor of arts in rhetoric and communication and English from the State University of New York at Albany.

To learn more about Erik’s work, visit Maverik Education (https://maverikeducation .com), or follow @Maverikedu12 on Twitter.

To book Erik M. Francis for professional development, contact pd@SolutionTree .com.

INTRODUCTION The only possible use of the chart I can see is if someone took a verb and asked how it could be placed in each of the four sectors.

—NORMAN L. WEBB

It seemed to come out of nowhere, this academic framework with the three-letter acronym—DOK, Depth of Knowledge. It proliferated in the world of education as a new focus and goal for schools, staff, and students in the 21st century. However, it was first introduced in the late 1990s as a criterion for alignment studies, not as an academic concept for teaching and learning.

It seemed to be a new instructional approach, a practice for developing and delivering rigorous teaching and learning experiences. It’s actually a measure of cognitive rigor, not an instructional method.

It seemed to be another taxonomy that classifies and measures the complexity of types of thinking. However, Depth of Knowledge is not a taxonomy. It’s also not about the cognitive action students must perform as indicated by “the verb.” Instead, it considers the complexity of the content knowledge students must learn, and the depth and extent—or context— in which students must understand and use their learning.

Many academics, authors, bloggers, educators, presenters, and professional development providers, including me, have attempted to explain what Depth of Knowledge is—and what it is not. If you google Depth of Knowledge, DOK, or Webb’s DOK, you’ll return over 750 million hits, depending on the day. Some sources reference the research of Norman L. Webb (1997, 1999), who developed Depth of Knowledge as a criterion for judging the alignment between academic standards and assessments, while others are more aligned to the work of Karin Hess, who superimposed Webb’s Depth of Knowledge levels with Bloom’s revised taxonomy to measure the cognitive rigor of academic standards and the activities, items, and tasks that address and assess them (with Carlock, Jones, & Walkup, 2009a, 2009b). Most literature, presentations, and trainings on Depth of Knowledge feature the Depth of

1

2

DECONSTRUCTING DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE

Knowledge wheel (viewable online at www.state.nj.us/education/AchieveNJ/teacher /DOKWheelAndDOKRigorChartAndChecklist.pdf).

The DOK wheel is one of many visuals that attempts to represent Depth of Knowledge graphically. The wheel is the most widely known because it was included in the training materials for the Common Core State Standards. Participants in the CCSS trainings were taught how to use the DOK wheel to determine the cognitive demand of an academic standard, activity, or assessment. The DOK level depended on which spoke featured the verb from the academic standard, activity, or assessment item’s learning intention or objective.

Unfortunately, the DOK wheel is inaccurate.

Yes, you read that right. The DOK wheel, despite its widespread distribution and use, depicts Depth of Knowledge—specifically, Webb’s Depth of Knowledge levels—incorrectly.

You’re probably wondering how this could be. The DOK wheel is everywhere! It’s provided in trainings on teaching and testing college and career readiness standards.

It’s posted on state, county, regional, and local education agency websites. It’s featured in numerous articles, blogs, presentations, and webinars. It’s one of the first graphics that comes up in a Google search. The poster featuring the DOK wheel (see www.state .nj.us/education/AchieveNJ/teacher/DOKWheelAndDOKRigorChartAndChecklist .pdf) even cites Webb, and others, as the creators.

However, Webb did not create the DOK wheel. In fact, he considers it “misleading and has always discouraged its use” (Walkup, 2013). If you contact Webb or his organization, WebbAlign, you will be informed that Webb “did not create the DOK wheel, does not endorse it, and does not believe it represents the four dimensions” (Blackburn & Witzel, 2018, pp. 40–41).

So, if it wasn’t Webb, who created the DOK wheel? No one knows for sure.

According to Dr. Webb, he first encountered the DOK wheel in the mid-2000s when he facilitated alignment studies of Florida’s state standards and assessment (N. Webb, personal communication, July 5, 2018). He also reiterated he did not create the DOK wheel and tells people not to use it. It’s presumed that an educator from Florida uploaded the DOK wheel to the internet to help schools and staff understand the concept better. Unfortunately, it caused and created more confusion.

Hess (2018) speculates the DOK wheel may have been derived from a Bloom’s taxonomy wheel featured in Growing Up Gifted by Barbara Clark (1983). The only difference is that Clark’s HOT wheel lists cognitive action verbs in five spokes, and the DOK wheel features them in four. The DOK wheel also implies that a learning experience

Introduction

must start at DOK level 1 or DOK level 2 before students can demonstrate their learning at a DOK level 3 or DOK level 4.

The biggest problem with the DOK wheel is it implies the Depth of Knowledge demanded by an academic standard, activity, or assessment depends on the type of thinking students will demonstrate as defined by “the verb” that introduces its learning intention, objective, or target. That’s why so many educators misinterpret Depth of Knowledge and Webb’s DOK levels another way to “do Bloom’s.”

Then, you may ask, what exactly is Depth of Knowledge? This book articulates my ideas of what Depth of Knowledge is and how the DOK levels can serve as a method and model that inform how teaching and learning experiences can be developed, delivered, and deepened. It takes inspiration from Norman Webb’s research with alignment studies and Karin Hess’s concept of cognitive rigor. It provides a process not only to determine the demand of academic standards, activities, and assessments but also to drive decisions regarding how to address, assess, assist, and augment students’ ability to achieve and surpass grade-level or curricular goals and expectations. Most importantly, it explores and explains with examples and evidence how educators and practitioners can plan and provide engaging teaching and learning experiences that are academically rigorous, socially and emotionally supportive, and student responsive.

The Four Tenets of DOK Depth of Knowledge has become a focus and priority for schools, staff, and systems around the world. However, over the years, DOK and Webb’s DOK levels have been interpreted and re-interpreted in many ways, some closer to the intent than others. To honor, respect, and distinguish the great work of both Norman Webb and Karin Hess with Depth of Knowledge, I want to make it very clear that this is my interpretation of DOK and the DOK levels. Although this book draws inspiration and influence from their work, like DOK itself, this book provides a different and deeper perspective of Depth of Knowledge and how the DOK levels have been viewed and used.

I believe teaching and learning for Depth of Knowledge is not only an academic method or model that promotes rigorous instruction, learning, or assessment. It also fosters and promotes a growth mindset for teaching and learning. Educators can use the DOK levels to state or specify learning goals and expectations. We could also use the DOK levels to show and share with students how they could achieve and surpass both proficiency and personal goals and expectations.

To adopt this mindset effectively, all staff and students should accept and agree to what I call the Four Tenets of Depth of Knowledge.

3

4

DECONSTRUCTING DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE

1. Teaching and testing for DOK address and assess student learning over a range of DOK levels leading to the Depth of Knowledge demanded by a learning intention or its most cognitively demanding objective.

2. Teaching and learning for DOK tier to and build on the strength of the students so they can achieve and surpass the level of Depth of Knowledge demanded by a learning intention or its most cognitively demanding objective.

3. All students are expected and encouraged to understand and use their learning at and beyond the level of Depth of Knowledge demanded by a learning intention or its most cognitively demanding objective.

4. All students will be guided and supported to develop, demonstrate, and deepen their learning over a range of DOK levels leading to and beyond a learning intention or its most cognitively demanding objective.

The tenets show how teaching and learning for Depth of Knowledge are both a practice and a philosophy. If our students are to understand and use their learning at different and deeper DOK levels successfully, then we educators must agree and adhere to these beliefs and principles. Subsequent chapters of this book explain how to apply these tenets and use the DOK blocks to develop and deliver teaching and learning experiences that address and assess Depth of Knowledge.

What’s in This Book This book is divided into two parts. Part I, chapters 1–4, presents theoretical information deconstructing Depth of Knowledge to ensure readers correctly understand the model and its associated levels. Chapter 1 discusses what Depth of Knowledge really is: a different and deeper way of looking at teaching and learning. It explains how Depth of Knowledge involves looking beyond the verb to confirm what students are learning and how deeply they must demonstrate their learning. It distinguishes Webb’s DOK levels from other cognitive frameworks educators use to plan and provide instruction and assessment. It also introduces the DOK blocks, a graphic I created that not only indicates the demand of the standard but also informs the delivery and intensity of the instruction students should experience. Chapters 2 through 4 focus on how Depth of Knowledge is a method, model, and mindset for teaching and learning. Chapter 2 describes the instructional focus and purpose of teaching and learning at each DOK level. Chapter 3 explains how Depth of Knowledge strengthens and supports standards, assessment, instruction, learning, and the curriculum. Chapter 4 shows how teachers can use the DOK levels as a multitiered system of supports

Introduction

(MTSS) for delivering instruction, responding to intervention, and extending student learning. Each of these chapters concludes with reflection questions about understanding Depth of Knowledge. These questions engage you to think strategically how you could apply Depth of Knowledge to your area or role in education.

Part II, chapters 5–9, focuses on applying the Depth of Knowledge model, explaining how to plan and provide DOK teaching and learning experiences. Chapter 5 shows how to deconstruct the learning intention of an academic standard to identify its instructional focus and inform its instructional purpose. Chapter 6 discusses how to designate the DOK level a task demands by examining the mental processing students must perform or responses they must provide. Chapter 7 shows how to reconstruct the learning intention of academic standards into DOK learning targets for units and lessons and DOK success criteria for activities and assessments. Chapter 8 explains how to ask good questions that will prompt students to reflect and respond at different and deeper DOK levels. Finally, chapter 9 compares the goals and expectations of the DOK levels to several types of television shows and genres. It also illustrates how teachers can simulate the format of such TV shows and genres to create DOK teaching and learning experiences for students at each of the DOK levels. The chapters in part II end with professional development activities that encourage you to think extensively about using Depth of Knowledge—specifically, how you could develop and deliver teaching and learning experiences that will demand students understand and use their learning at different and deeper DOK levels.

Who This Book Is For My goal and purpose for this book are to explain how K–12 educators could use Depth of Knowledge and the DOK levels constructively and creatively to develop and deliver deeper teaching and learning experiences. I consider this book my DOK 4 because it encouraged me to think extensively and to explore and explain with examples and evidence how Depth of Knowledge and the DOK levels could be used as a method and model to strengthen and support student performance and teacher effectiveness.

If you’re a classroom teacher or instructional specialist, you’ll recognize the goal and expectations of teaching and learning at each DOK level. You will also realize how you can use the DOK levels to plan and provide educational experiences that are academically rigorous, socially and emotionally supportive, and student responsive.

If you’re an instructional leader or coach, you will recognize what teaching and learning for Depth of Knowledge look like. You will also realize how you might use

5

6

DECONSTRUCTING DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE

the DOK levels as a resource to guide and support your staff by differentiating and intensifying their instruction based on the demands of the standards and the strengths and successes of the students.

If you’re an academic standards or assessment specialist for a national, state, or local education agency, you will recognize how Depth of Knowledge is a criterion for alignment studies and realize how to use the DOK levels to categorize and compare the cognitive demand of grade-level expectations and assessments and determine their degree of alignment—or what Webb (1999) calls DOK consistency.

If you’re a curriculum or assessment designer, you’ll recognize how Depth of Knowledge is defined by the demands of the task, the mental processing skills students must perform, and the responses students must provide. You will also realize how you can use the DOK levels to create activities, items, and tasks that will require that students develop, demonstrate, and deepen their knowledge and skills.

However, as the G.I. Joe cartoon from the 1980s said in its public service announcements featured at the end of each episode, “Knowing is half the battle!” Keep that in mind as you read this book and consider how truly understanding and using Depth of Knowledge can increase and improve the performance and potential of your students, staff, school, or system.

C H A P T E R

T WO

©2022 by Solution Tree Press. All rights reserved.

What Are DOK Teaching and Learning Experiences?

In chapter 1 (page 9), we learned what Depth of Knowledge is and how the DOK levels describe four different contexts in which students can understand and use their learning. We also learned that Webb’s DOK levels (along with Bloom’s revised taxonomy) mark and measure the cognitive rigor of academic standards, activities, and assessment items. But what distinguishes the rigor of DOK teaching and learning experiences?

How can you use the DOK levels to plan and provide teaching and learning experiences that are academically rigorous, socially and emotionally supportive, and student responsive?

To answer these questions, this chapter provides information on how to develop and deliver DOK teaching and learning experiences that focus on the following four points: (1) knowledge acquisition, (2) knowledge application, (3) knowledge analysis, and (4) knowledge augmentation. This chapter also discusses teacher and student roles and responsibilities and presents appropriate examples of teaching activities and experiences. The chapter concludes with reflection questions to allow you to assess your understanding of Depth of Knowledge to this point.

How to Develop DOK Teaching and Learning Experiences Teaching and learning for Depth of Knowledge demand students do the following.

27

28

DECONSTRUCTING DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE

• Acquire the foundational knowledge and skills required to answer questions, solve problems, complete tasks, or understand texts and topics correctly.

• Apply conceptual and procedural understanding accurately to answer questions, address problems, accomplish tasks, or analyze a text or topic.

• Augment knowledge by exploring and explaining how they could transfer, use, and connect their learning deep within a subject, among texts or topics, across the curriculum, beyond the classroom, and in their own unique ways.

Figure 2.1 uses the DOK blocks introduced in chapter 1 to summarize the overarching goal and expectation of teaching and learning at each DOK level. Notice how each DOK block in the figure establishes and explains the overarching goal and expectation for a teaching and learning experience at each DOK level. The blocks also show how each DOK level plays an explicit and essential role in how teachers deliver their instruction and how students develop, demonstrate, and deepen their learning. One DOK level should not be considered “better” or “more desirable” than another. Also, the DOK level of a teaching and learning experience depends on the depth and extent students must understand and use their learning, not the specific strategy or pedagogical approach used to instruct, assess, or engage students. For example, constructivist instructional strategies such as inquiry-based and project-based learning are best practices teachers could use to engage students in deeper DOK teaching and learning experiences. However, it’s the depth and extent to which the teaching and learning experience demands students to understand and use their learning that determine the DOK level, not the method or practice used.

DOK 1: Knowledge Acquisition The goal and expectation of a DOK 1 teaching and learning experience are for students to acquire the foundational knowledge and functional understanding they need to succeed in a specific subject. Table 2.1 (page 30) details the roles and responsibilities of the teacher and students in a DOK 1 teaching and learning experience.

DOK 1 activities and assessments are routine and simple. Students must “demonstrate a rote response, use a well-known formula, follow a set procedure (like a recipe), or perform a clearly defined series of steps” (Webb, 2002, p. 5). No further explanation,

©2022 by Solution Tree Press. All rights reserved.

• Analyze how and why acquired knowledge could be used as evidence to justify answers, actions, analyses, alternatives, or arguments—their own or those presented by others.

Students must recall and restate “just the facts” or recall and reproduce how to “just do it” to answer questions, solve problems, complete tasks, or understand a specific text or topic correctly.

KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION

Learning Goal Ceiling of Assessment Students must demonstrate and communicate how they can apply knowledge, concepts, and skills or use information and basic reasoning accurately to answer questions, address problems, accomplish tasks, or analyze a specific text or topic successfully.

KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION

Learning Goal Ceiling of Assessment

Pathway to Proficiency

Pathway to Proficiency

Figure 2.1: Rigorous teaching and learning for Depth of Knowledge.

Progression of Performance

DOK 1

Progression of Performance

DOK 2

Progression of Performance

Students must delve deeper to inquire and investigate how they could think strategically or use complex reasoning supported by evidence to examine and explain actions, answers, analyses, alternatives, or arguments—their own or those made by others.

KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION

Learning Goal Ceiling of Assessment

DOK 3

Pathway to Proficiency

Students must explore and explain how they could use extended reasoning supported by expertise or think extensively how they could connect, transfer, or utilize their learning deep within a subject area, among texts and topics, across the curriculum, or beyond the classroom.

KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION

Learning Goal Ceiling of Assessment

©2022 by Solution Tree Press. All rights reserved.

Progression of Performance

DOK 4

What Are DOK Teaching and Learning Experiences?

29

Pathway to Proficiency

30

DECONSTRUCTING DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE

TABLE 2.1: DOK 1 Teacher and Student Roles and Responsibilities

Teacher Roles and Responsibilities

Student Roles and Responsibilities • Listens and observes attentively during the teaching and learning experience

• Shows and tells the specific information and procedures students must learn

• Memorizes the specific information or procedures teachers have taught

• Provides details, facts, or specifics

• Recalls details, facts, or specifics correctly

• Presents directions, instructions, or steps

• Follows directions, instructions, or steps correctly

• Asks questions to assess knowledge and check for understanding • Assesses and evaluates for correctness

• Asks questions to develop background knowledge and basic understanding

• Speaks for most of the experience

• Answers correctly or incorrectly • Speaks when called on or has a question

justification, or extension are demanded. Students are required to recall just the facts or how to do something as correctly and explicitly as it’s taught by the teacher or a text. However, this doesn’t mean DOK 1 curricular activities and test items are easy or basic. In fact, these lessons and assessments can be the most difficult for students, especially as they begin to learn about a subject. The following list includes examples of DOK 1 activities, items, and tasks that require students to recall information or procedures (Hess, 2015a–c; Webb, 2014a–c, 2019).

• Recall data, definitions, details, elements, facts, or information.

• Support ideas with reference to verbatim (or only slightly paraphrased) details from the text.

• Use a dictionary to find the meanings of words.

• Recognize figurative language in a reading passage.

• Identify, label, or locate data, information, or parts in a print or visual text.

• Recognize or identify specific information contained in maps, charts, tables, graphs, drawings, or other graphics.

• Define the meaning of words, phrases, or terms using a dictionary, glossary, or thesaurus.

• Describe or explain who, what, where, when, how, or why according to a source or text.

• Memorize facts, information, operations, or procedures.

• Read and recite lines fluently and accurately from a text or from memory.

©2022 by Solution Tree Press. All rights reserved.

• Directs and leads the teaching and learning experience

What Are DOK Teaching and Learning Experiences?

31

• Solve a routine and simple problem with a single or specific outcome, result, or solution.

• Complete a simple task successfully.

• Perform a one-step computation or operation.

• Apply a direct or specific algorithm, formula, or routine procedure.

• Respond yes or no.

• Declare a statement as true or false.

• Make a list.

• Identify patterns, trends, causes, or effects.

• Complete a word search or crossword puzzle.

• Brainstorm ideas related to the specific text or topic being studied.

According to Hess’s Cognitive Rigor Matrix (see figure 1.2, page 20), DOK 1 teaching and learning experiences could expect students to demonstrate higher levels of thinking. For example, activities and assessments could require students to analyze by identifying patterns or trends or locating and retrieving information from a specific print or visual text (for example, maps, charts, or tables). They could require students to answer a question, solve a problem, or complete a task correctly (Hess, 2013c; Hess et al., 2010a, 2010b). Students might create by brainstorming ideas, concepts, or perspectives related to a specific text or topic (Hess et al., 2010a, 2010b). However, even though students are expected to think deeply, DOK 1 activities or assessment items will only demand students to recall the facts or how to do something without offering deeper explanations, interpretations, or further exploration. They do not have to be “figured out” or “solved” (Petit & Hess, 2006; Webb, 2002, 2015a).

DOK 1 teaching and learning experiences also focus on students acquiring basic literacy and language skills. Students learn the print concepts and the conventions of a target language (for example, phonemic sounds, spelling of words, word meaning, part of speech, sentence structure, and word placement). They are also introduced to the terminology of a specific subject—the verbal and nonverbal labels and symbols “used by experts to express what they know [and] communicate with others in their discipline” (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001, p. 45). Activities and assessments demand students to demonstrate “a shallow understanding of the text presented and often consist of verbatim recall from text, slight paraphrasing of specific details from the text, or simple understanding of a single word or phrase” (Webb, 2015b, p. 1). Again, no deeper explanation, evaluation, or extension is demanded. Students must only recall

©2022 by Solution Tree Press. All rights reserved.

• Execute or follow a well-defined multistep procedure.

32

DECONSTRUCTING DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE

and restate information or reproduce procedures correctly and explicitly as they are presented or printed in a specific text.

DOK 2: Knowledge Application The goal and expectation of a DOK 2 teaching and learning experience is for students to comprehend and communicate how and why they can apply the content knowledge to answer questions, address problems, accomplish tasks, or analyze the ideas and information presented in texts or pertaining to topics. Table 2.2 describes the roles and responsibilities of the teacher and student in a DOK 2 teaching and learning experience.

DOK 2 activities and assessments demand students to understand and use the content knowledge correctly. However, according to Webb (2002), “The content knowledge and processes involved are more complex than in [DOK 1]” (p. 5). Students learn how to organize and apply information and procedures as categories and criteria, methods and models, structures and skills, or theories and techniques. Activities and assessments also challenge students to use their deeper understanding to make choices, comparisons, and connections. The following list features examples of DOK 2 activities, items, and tasks that will challenge students to show and share their deeper understanding of concepts, ideas, and processes (Hess, 2013a–g; Webb, 2015a–c, 2019).

• Describe, explain, or interpret how or why.

• Explain the series of steps completed, taken, or used to find a solution.

• Summarize ideas or information with supporting examples.

• Draw meaning from text by using organizational structure, examples, and context.

• Follow cause-and-effect sequences and multiple ideas through a text.

• Distinguish among hypotheses and givens as well as fact from opinion.

• Explain differences among genres (poetry, expository materials, fiction, and so on).

©2022 by Solution Tree Press. All rights reserved.

A DOK 1 teaching and learning experience can be difficult for students, especially when they are first learning about the text, topic, or technique. The level of difficulty may change as students become more familiar with the subject. However, the cognitive demand of a DOK 1 teaching and learning experience will remain low because it only requires students to recall just the facts or to demonstrate how to just do it correctly.

This is also what you tell students when they ask what’s expected of them in a DOK 1 teaching and learning experience—recall just the facts or demonstrate how to just do it correctly.

What Are DOK Teaching and Learning Experiences?

33

TABLE 2.2: DOK 2 Teacher and Student Roles and Responsibilities

Teacher Roles and Responsibilities

Student Roles and Responsibilities • Participates actively in the teaching and learning experience

• Steps back to observe and oversee student performance

• Speaks up to show and share or summarize

• Prompts students to demonstrate and communicate how they can use the content knowledge accurately to answer questions, address problems, accomplish tasks, or analyze texts and topics

• Demonstrates and communicates how they use the content knowledge accurately to answer questions, address problems, accomplish tasks, or analyze the ideas and information presented in a specific text or pertaining to a particular topic

• Asks questions to check for conceptual or procedural understanding or to understand students’ actions, answers, or analyses • Assesses and evaluates students’ responses, results, or reasoning based on correctness and clarity

• Asks questions to develop conceptual or procedural understanding or to clarify actions, answers, or analyses • Establishes and explains responses, results, or reasoning with supporting examples correctly and clearly

• Use context cues to identify the meaning of unfamiliar words, phrases, and expressions that could otherwise have multiple meanings.

• Predict a logical outcome based on information in a reading selection.

• Identify and summarize the major events in a narrative.

• Categorize or classify data and information based on specific criteria.

• Compare or contrast people, places, events, and concepts based on characteristics.

• Convert information from one form to another.

• Formulate an equation or inequality, derive a solution, and report the solution.

• Perform a routine experiment with two or more steps that produces a specific result.

• Select a method or procedure according to what the task requires and perform it.

• Conduct an experiment with a specific outcome, result, or solution.

• Construct or use a model or visual to explain a concept, idea, phenomenon, or process.

©2022 by Solution Tree Press. All rights reserved.

• Assigns and guides the teaching and learning experience

34

DECONSTRUCTING DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE

• Solve routine problems involving multiple decision points or methods.

• Choose from options given.

• Make basic inferences or logical predictions based on data and information provided.

• Obtain and interpret information using context, text features, or visuals.

• Explain or extend a pattern or trend.

• Make a diorama that illustrates or explains an actual or fictional event.

• Conduct an interview that prompts someone to explain or express ideas or perspectives.

• Create a questionnaire or survey that gathers quantitative or qualitative data.

• Write a journal, diary, or blog to express and explain beliefs, feelings, ideas, or opinions.

A DOK 1 item or task could be used in a DOK 2 teaching and learning experience.

However, the activity or assessment must challenge students “to go beyond a description or explanation of recalled information to describe or explain a result or ‘how’ or ‘why’” (Webb, 2002, p. 8). For example, in mathematics, instead of simply solving problems correctly, students must show and share or summarize how they used a concept, operation, or procedure to attain their answer. In literature and the arts, instead of simply identifying literary or artistic devices, students must use information and basic reasoning to explain the main or explicit ideas in a text or work and how the author, artist, or musician used the elements of craft and structure to express those ideas. In history or social studies, instead of simply creating a timeline, students must specify and explain the connections between the events. In world language, instead of simply identifying the correct form or tense, students must apply knowledge, concepts, and skills to explain how the form or tense is used in a communication or conversation. In physical education, instead of simply throwing a particular pitch in baseball, students must establish and explain with examples how the pitch is or can be thrown.

Successful student performance depends on how correctly and clearly students apply and articulate their learning in the assigned context.

DOK 2 teaching and learning experiences apply a content-area literacy approach to instruction and assessment. Ramona Chauvin and Kathleen Theodore (2015) describe content-area literacy as “the ability to use reading and writing to learn the subject matter in a discipline” (p. 2). The instructional focus and purpose shift from learning how to read, write, and discuss to reading, writing, and discussing to learn. This should

©2022 by Solution Tree Press. All rights reserved.

• Generate conjectures or hypotheses based on experience or observations.

What Are DOK Teaching and Learning Experiences?

The simplest way to deepen a teaching and learning experience to a DOK 2 is to challenge students to demonstrate and communicate their learning (or with the younger students, “show and share”). However, students must express and share their understanding in their own words. This is what makes the DOK 2 teaching and learning experience more challenging and cognitively demanding.

DOK 3: Knowledge Analysis The goal and expectation of DOK 3 teaching and learning experiences are to deepen students’ awareness of how and why they could use the content knowledge in different contexts. Table 2.4 (page 37) explains the roles and responsibilities of the teacher and student in DOK 3 teaching and learning experiences.

DOK 3 activities and assessments are highly complex and abstract. Students use strategic thinking and complex reasoning to examine and explain answers, actions, analyses, alternatives, or arguments—their own or those presented by others. What distinguishes DOK 3 activities and assessments is they demand students understand and use the content knowledge as evidence to strengthen and support calculations, claims, conclusions, or conjectures. According to Webb (2015c), students “go beyond knowing how and why to justifying the how and why through application and evidence” (p. 2). The following list features examples of DOK 3 activities, items, and tasks that engage students to use strategic thinking and complex reasoning (Hess, 2013a–g; Webb, 2015a–c, 2019).

• Explain, generalize, or connect ideas using supporting evidence.

• Justify actions, answers, analyses, alternatives, and arguments with supporting evidence.

©2022 by Solution Tree Press. All rights reserved.

happen in all subjects at all grade levels, not just literature or language arts classes at the secondary level. With a content-area literacy approach, students are challenged to read and respond to informational texts in different disciplines to deepen their conceptual and procedural understanding of the content knowledge. They must also use the information from these texts and basic reasoning to communicate their understanding by paraphrasing, specifying, or summarizing. They also interpret or construct meaning from texts and about topics based on the information provided or how it is presented (Webb, 2015b). Table 2.3 (page 36) features examples of reading tasks and writing-tolearn activities for DOK 2 teaching and learning experiences for all subjects. Victoria Gillis (2014) recommends adapting rather than adopting these activities and tasks to address the content and communication focus of the specific subject. For example, students may use transition words commonly used in mathematics or science to detail or document a phenomenon or process.

35

36

DECONSTRUCTING DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE

TABLE 2.3: Content-Area Literary Skills

Reading Tasks

• Determine the main, central, or explicit ideas expressed in a literary or informational text.

• Summarize the key details and ideas of a literary or informational text (for example, main ideas, character traits, plots, or themes).

• Identify, explain, and trace the steps for a process detailed in a literary or informational text.

• Use context clues to determine the meaning of general academic or literary words and subject-specific terminology.

• Describe how an informational text presents details, facts, and information.

• Identify aspects of the text that reveal the author’s purpose or point of view.

• Distinguish between relevant and irrelevant information, facts and opinions, and primary and secondary sources.

• Explain differences among genres and types of texts.

• Understand and use the conventions, format, style, or terminology of a specific subject to read and respond to a literary or informational text (for example, lab reports, historical documents, athletic playbooks, musical lyrics, or stage plays or screenplays).

• Write generic or focused summaries to understand texts, topics, or techniques more clearly.

• Write informative or explanatory texts that explain concepts, events, ideas, or processes.

• Write narratives that summarize the sequence of events of experiences or phenomena from start to finish.

• Write responses that express personal beliefs, feelings, opinions, perspectives, or thoughts about a text or topic.

• Use technical writing (step 1, step 2, step 3 . . .) to detail or document the stages or steps of a phenomenon or process.

• Use transitional words (first . . ., next . . ., then . . ., finally . . .) to detail or document the stages or steps of a phenomenon or process.

• Keep a learning log or reader-response journal that records reactions, reflections, or responses to a text or topic.

• Write letters, notes, or text messages to explain concepts, events, ideas, or processes.

• Understand and use the conventions, format, style, or terminology of a specific subject to write and produce a literary or informational text (for example, MLA or APA format, lab reports, mathematical proofs, musical lyrics, or stage plays or screenplays).

• Cite textual evidence to strengthen and support claims, conclusions, or conjectures.

• Critique actions, conclusions, or decisions based on credibility of evidence or sources.

©2022 by Solution Tree Press. All rights reserved.

• Cite or paraphrase specific details, facts, and information from literary and informational texts to make and support explanations, inferences, or predictions.

Writing-to-Learn Activities

What Are DOK Teaching and Learning Experiences?

37

TABLE 2.4: DOK 3 Teacher and Student Roles and Responsibilities

Teacher Roles and Responsibilities

Student Roles and Responsibilities • Engages deeply in the learning experience

• Presents a complex goal or task with specific criteria or stipulations students must achieve

• Uses deep knowledge and skills to achieve the criteria or stipulations of a goal or task

• Provides students with different contexts in which they could demonstrate their learning

• Examines and explains with evidence how they could demonstrate their learning in different contexts

• Engages students to think strategically or use complex reasoning supported by evidence to justify answers, actions, analyses, alternatives, or arguments—their own or those presented by others

• Thinks strategically or uses complex reasoning supported by evidence to justify answers, actions, analyses, alternatives, or arguments—their own or those presented by others

• Asks questions to stimulate deeper thinking, probe reasoning, or pique curiosity, imagination, interest, and wonder

• Asks questions to delve deeper or consider alternatives, causes, connections, consequences, options, outcomes, perspectives, or possibilities

• Assesses and evaluates student learning based on correctness, clarity, and credibility of evidence and reasoning

• Uses evidence and reasoning correctly, clearly, and credibly to strengthen and support responses and results

• Explain or recognize how the author’s purpose affects the interpretation of a reading selection.

• Conduct analyses of the text to make inferences about an author’s purpose and use of textual features.

• Summarize information from multiple sources to address a specific topic.

• Analyze and describe the characteristics of various types of literature.

• Evaluate ideas, performance, or works based on craftsmanship, credibility, or criteria.

• Apply and analyze concepts and processes to solve nonroutine or illstructured problems.

• Use decision making, troubleshooting, or a diagnosis-solution method to address a problem.

• Analyze similarities and differences among issues and problems.

• Propose and evaluate solutions to problems.

©2022 by Solution Tree Press. All rights reserved.

• Moderates and monitors the learning experience

38

DECONSTRUCTING DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE

• Recognize and explain misconceptions.

• Make connections across time and place to explain a concept or big idea.

• Monitor performance and adjust methods, strategies, or techniques if necessary.

• Consider alternatives, consequences, options, or possibilities.

• Develop and use a model or visual to explain a concept, idea, phenomenon, or process.

• Conduct an investigation for a specific purpose or one that addresses a research question.

• Draw conclusions based on recorded or reported data, information, observations, or results.

• Address a complex problem or accomplish a complex task within a specific time limit.

• Analyze and evaluate the impact or effectiveness of a policy or procedure.

• Compile and synthesize information from a single source or text.

• Write and prepare an informational text, report, or presentation on a specific subject.

• Initiate and participate in a debate, dialogue, or discussion.

• Respond to document-based questions that address and examine the universal ideas and themes presented in a single text of literary fiction or pertaining to a topic.

• Engage in a problem-based or project-based learning experience with a definitive outcome or specific time limit.

DOK 3 teaching and learning experiences also engage students to develop and demonstrate the complex mental processing skills—or competencies—that will benefit them in school and society. Figure 2.2 (page 40) lists what Bernie Trilling and Charles Fadel (2009) identify as the four Cs of 21st century learning—the set of critical learning and innovation skills and subskills essential for success and survival in learning, life, and the labor force. The learning intentions associated with these competencies are applicable and adaptable for DOK 3 teaching and learning experiences of all subjects at all grade levels. The learning intentions associated with these competencies are applicable and adaptable for DOK 3 teaching and learning experiences of all subjects

©2022 by Solution Tree Press. All rights reserved.

• Verify and validate the reasonableness of results.

What Are DOK Teaching and Learning Experiences?

39

at all grade levels. They engage students to develop and demonstrate deeper academic and authentic knowledge and skills they need to succeed academically, professionally, and personally. When planning activities and assessments, include these core competencies as learning goals and expectations to make the DOK 3 teaching and learning experience both rigorous and relevant.

DOK 1 and DOK 2 items and tasks could be assigned in a DOK 3 teaching and learning experience. However, the activity or assessment must engage students to “go beyond explaining or describing ‘how and why’ to justifying the ‘how and why’ through application and evidence” (Webb, 2002, p. 8). The simplest way to deliver a DOK 3 teaching and learning experience is to present students with an opinion, option, or outcome and engage them in confirming, concluding, considering, or critiquing its accuracy, validity, or viability. For example, in mathematics or science, instead of requiring students to solve problems, present students with a solution and engage them to justify whether it’s correct or incorrect. In literature and the arts, instead of asking students what the central idea or theme is, share with students what the textbook or a credible source says is the idea or theme and challenge them to examine and explain with evidence from the text how those ideas or themes are strengthened and supported. Then ask them to use complex reasoning supported by evidence to explain what they believe the central idea or theme is and why. In physical education, present students with a scenario on the field or court, engage them to think strategically about which would be the best play to execute, and then have them examine and evaluate the effectiveness of the play. Successful student performance depends on whether the evidence and reasoning are clear, credible, and convincing.

©2022 by Solution Tree Press. All rights reserved.

DOK 3 teaching and learning experiences employ a disciplinary literacy approach with instruction and assessment. According to Timothy and Cynthia Shanahan (2012), disciplinary literacy “emphasizes the specialized knowledge and abilities possessed by those who create, communicate, and use knowledge within each of the disciplines” (p. 7). These professional practices and specialized skills are addressed in a content area’s anchor standards (for example, the Standards for Mathematical Practice, the Mathematics College and Career Readiness Standards, the Scientific and Engineering Practices and Crosscutting Concepts of the Next Generation Science Standards, the anchor standards of the Literacy and Language CCRS, the National Core Arts Standards, the AERO World Language Standards, and the SHAPE America Standards). DOK 3 activities and assessments engage students to address and respond to learning experiences as if they are participants or professionals in a particular area or field—a mathematician or scientist, literary, art, music, or theater critic, a historian, a language or linguistic specialist, or an athlete or coach.

40

DECONSTRUCTING DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE

FOUR Cs SKILL Critical Thinking and Problem Solving (Expert thinking)

DOK 3 LEARNING INTENTIONS • Solve routine and nonroutine problems in different contexts.

• Use various types of reasoning based on the situation.

• Analyze how parts of a whole interact with each other.

• Interpret information and draw conclusions based on the best analysis.

Creativity and Innovation (Applied imagination and invention)

• Come up with innovative or inventive ideas.

• Analyze, evaluate, and refine ideas for improvement or potential.

• Be open and responsive to new and diverse perspectives.

• Understand the real-world limits to accepting or adopting new ideas.

• Understand and view obstacles, rejection, or setbacks as an opportunity to learn.

• Recognize and realize that creativity and innovation involve a longterm, cyclical process of successes and mistakes.

• Act on creative ideas to make change or contributions.

Communication (Complex engagement and interaction)

• Articulate thoughts and ideas effectively using oral, written, and nonverbal communication in a variety of forms and contexts.

• Communicate new ideas or information to others clearly and effectively.

• Listen deeply to decipher meaning.

• Use communication in different contexts and for a range of purposes.

• Utilize multiple forms and types of communication and evaluate their effectiveness and impact.

Collaboration

• Work effectively and respectfully with others.

(Complex engagement and interaction)

• Exercise flexibility and willingness to be helpful, make changes, or make compromises to accomplish a common goal.

• Assume shared responsibility for collaborative work, successes, and setbacks.

• Value group and individual contributions made by each member.

Sources: Partnership for 21st Century Learning, 2019; Trilling & Fadel, 2009.

Figure 2.2: The four Cs of 21st century learning.

©2022 by Solution Tree Press. All rights reserved.

• Analyze and evaluate arguments, beliefs, claims, perspectives, or points of view based on the credibility of the evidence.

What Are DOK Teaching and Learning Experiences?

41

DOK 4: Knowledge Augmentation The goal and expectation of a DOK 4 teaching and learning experience are to extend students’ learning beyond the content, the curriculum, and the classroom. Table 2.5 describes the roles and responsibilities of the teacher and student in a DOK 4 teaching and learning experience.

Teacher Roles and Responsibilities

Student Roles and Responsibilities

• Initiates, evaluates, and critiques the learning experience

• Proposes, plans, and presents the learning experience

• Prompts students to think extensively how they could use the knowledge in diverse contexts and unique situations

• Thinks extensively about how they could use the knowledge to address, explain, or respond to a real-world scenario or situation

• Provides opportunities for students to determine and discover how they could apply, connect, or transfer the knowledge within a subject area, across texts and topics, across the curriculum, beyond the classroom, or in their own unique way

• Explores and explains with examples and evidence how they could apply, connect, or transfer the knowledge within a subject area, across texts and topics, across the curriculum, beyond the classroom, or in their own unique way

• Encourages students to develop their learning, life experiences, and innate gifts into personal expertise

• Develops their learning, life experiences, and innate gifts into personal expertise to draw upon and use

• Assigns authentic, intricate, and time-consuming tasks requiring in-depth research and investigation, planning, or the design of an authentic product

• Completes authentic, intricate, and time-consuming tasks that involve in-depth research and investigation, planning, or the design of an authentic product

The complexity of DOK 3 and DOK 4 activities and assessments is similar. However, according to Hess (2013b), a DOK 3 activity or assessment demands students demonstrate “in-depth understanding of one text, one data set, one investigation, or one key source, whereas DOK 4 tasks expand the breadth of the task using multiple texts or sources, or multiple concepts/disciplines to reach a solution or create a final product” (p. 14). For example, in literature and the arts, instead of conducting a literary or style analysis for a single text or work, encourage students to conduct author, artist, or genre studies that demand they analyze the key details and ideas or craft and structure of multiple texts written by the same or different authors or produced by the same or different artist or musicians. In history or social studies, encourage students to explore

©2022 by Solution Tree Press. All rights reserved.

TABLE 2.5: DOK 4 Teacher and Student Roles and Responsibilities

42

DECONSTRUCTING DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE

and explain with examples and evidence the impact of ideas, incidents, individuals, or issues along a time continuum. The following list contains DOK 4 activities, items, and tasks that will encourage students to extend their learning (Hess, 2013a–g; Webb, 2015a–c, 2019).

• Explain how concepts or ideas connect or relate to other concepts or content within or across disciplines and subjects.

• Conduct in-depth investigations to establish connections between academic content or how the content can be used in real-world contexts.

• Analyze and synthesize information from multiple sources.

• Examine and explain alternative perspectives across a variety of sources.

• Describe and illustrate how common themes are found across texts from different cultures.

• Select or devise an approach from the alternatives, options, or possibilities provided to solve a nonroutine or novel problem.

• Analyze the common ideas, motifs, styles, and themes of multiple texts and works within or across genres or by the same or different author or artist.

• Initiate and participate in a project with no time constraints that involves in-depth research, experimentation, investigation, and design.

• Gather, analyze, evaluate, and synthesize ideas and information from multiple sources or texts and confirm their authenticity, credibility, or validity.

• Apply knowledge and skills in a new or novel way, explaining and justifying actions, decisions, and reasoning.

• Design and use an original model that addresses, explains, or responds to an abstract real-world scenario or situation.

• Create an original work of art, literature, or music that incorporates the key ideas, motifs, styles, or themes of a specific genre or pays homage to an author, artist, or musician.

• Respond to document-based questions that address and explore global or universal concepts, ideas, or themes.

©2022 by Solution Tree Press. All rights reserved.

• Develop generalizations, perspectives, or theories based on outcomes or results attained or methods and strategies used and apply them in different contexts or new situations.

What Are DOK Teaching and Learning Experiences?

Figure 2.3 (page 44) features examples of specific curricular activities and instructional practices that could engage students in an extensive and involved DOK 4 teaching and learning experience. These experiences generally encourage students to “[employ and sustain] strategic thinking processes over a longer period of time to solve the problem or produce an authentic product” (Hess, 2013a, p. 18). However, keep in mind it’s the depth and extent to which the teaching and learning experience demands students to understand and use their learning that designate it a DOK 4, not the specific pedagogical approach or instructional method used to plan or provide the experience.

The problems addressed in a DOK 4 teaching and learning experience could be tame or wicked. According to Horst Rittel and Melvin Webber (1973), tame problems are solved by applying an algorithm, formula, or process that has worked or been proven effective in a similar scenario or situation. Wicked problems cannot be addressed using clear-cut or conventional problem-solving processes. In fact, they are near impossible to address completely or solve successfully because there are so many interconnected causes, circumstances, components, and consequences. Examples of wicked problems include socioeconomic, political, cultural, or environmental issues involving education, poverty, financial stability and status, health care and wellness, crime, climate change, equity, social justice, and terrorism. Table 2.6 (page 45) distinguishes the characteristics of tame and wicked problems.

DOK 4 teaching and learning experiences also encourage students to think extensively how they could complete what Michael Dobson (2013) calls impossible projects. Impossible projects are like wicked problems “because of the many components, factors, individuals, and resources affected and involved” (Francis, 2016a, p. 162).

Impossible projects can also be restrictive due to a lack of resources, time, or understanding. Space travel, splitting the atom, harnessing natural power (for example, electricity, wind, water, nuclear, or solar), curing diseases, constructing super architectural

©2022 by Solution Tree Press. All rights reserved.

DOK 4 teaching and learning experiences could take an extensive amount of time and effort to complete. However, these are a characteristic of DOK 4 activities and assessments, not a criterion. According to Webb (1999), “The extended time period is not a distinguishing factor if the required work is only repetitive and does not require applying significant conceptual understanding and [deeper mental processing]” (pp. 22–23). Such experiences could be designated a DOK 2 or DOK 3 depending on the depth and extent to which they demand students understand and use the content knowledge. That’s why it’s essential to consider what exactly and confirm how deeply the activity or assessment demands students to understand and use their learning before concluding its DOK level.

43

44

DECONSTRUCTING DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE

Students incorporate and utilize the disciplinary literacies of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, reading and writing, and the arts to address, explain, and respond to real-world scenarios and situations.

Author or Genre Study

Students compare and critique the common elements of multiple texts of literary fiction or nonfiction addressing the same topic, written by the same or different authors, written within the same or different genres, or produced in different ways for different formats (for example, the film adaptation of a short story).

Case Study

Students conduct an in-depth analysis or intensive investigation of an incident, individual, or issue to draw conclusions and critique methods or outcomes using data and information from multiple sources.

Expeditionary Learning

Students take their learning beyond the classroom physically or virtually by conducting expeditions, fieldwork, or case studies.

Service Learning

Students address a civic, human, or social concern, issue, need, or situation within their own community to cause and create positive or productive change.

Personalized Learning

Students apply and associate academic content, concepts, and procedures with individual interests or to address, explain, and respond to issues and situations relevant to their lives.

Capstone Project

Students undertake a long-term investigative project that culminates with a final plan product, presentation, or performance given to a panel of teachers, experts, or community members who collectively evaluate its quality.

Exhibits, Productions, and Showcases

Students use their deep knowledge, innate gifts, trained talents, and creative thinking to plan and produce a performance or production that will be presented to an audience for evaluation or entertainment.

Figure 2.3: DOK 4 authentic learning experiences.

structures, and creating artificial intelligence were all impossible projects at one time.

However, these all eventually became possible due to one person or group’s patience and persistence. That’s what distinguishes impossible projects from wicked problems.

Wicked problems cannot be solved completely or successfully, but impossible problems could be completed successfully at some point. DOK 4 teaching and learning experiences inspire students to think extensively about how they could be innovative and inventive with the content knowledge and use the 4 Cs of 21st century learning to make what’s considered impossible or fantastical practical or real.

So why bother encouraging students to explore wicked problems or impossible projects in a DOK 4 teaching and learning experience if these learning experiences are so extensive, exhausting, and even exasperating? Because according to Jon Kolko (2012),

©2022 by Solution Tree Press. All rights reserved.

STEM, STEAM, STREAM

What Are DOK Teaching and Learning Experiences?

45

TABLE 2.6: Tame vs. Wicked Problems

Wicked Problems

• Could be simple, complex, or involved but solvable

• Are extremely complex, involved, and near impossible to solve

• Could be academic or real-world

• Are real-world

• Are static and constant or consistent

• Are dynamic and always changing or evolving

• Have stakes dependent on the scenario or situation • Have a well-defined and stable problem statement with clear boundaries, guidelines, rules, or steps to follow • Have a definite stopping point; the experience ends when the solution is achieved or reached successfully • Have solutions that can be tested and tried • Have solutions that can be evaluated as correct or incorrect and true or false • Can be categorized as a type of problem that can be solved in a similar way or with a specific set of processes and skills

• Have high stakes because of the scenario or situation • Lack a clear or common form, format, formula, or final solution; no clear boundaries, guidelines, rules, or steps to follow • Have no end or stopping point. The experience ends when ideas or resources are exhausted or the solution is good enough (for the moment).

• Have solutions judged as good or bad, better or worse, or good enough or not good enough • Have no specific categories, classifications, or criteria; every problem is unique to its context

• Come with a complete yet limited set of alternative solutions

• Are such that every attempt is a oneshot operation

• Could have more than one symptom or solution

• Have no finite set of solutions or template to address the problem

• Have a problem and solution agreed on by all those impacted or involved

• Have multiple symptoms or could be symptoms of other problems

• Can afford the problem solvers to be correct or incorrect. Negative consequences, impacts, and setbacks can be addressed or fixed.

• Feature no agreement about the problem or solution by those impacted or involved

• Can be addressed or assigned at any DOK level

• Cannot afford the problem solvers to be incorrect; negative consequences, impact, and setbacks could make the problem worse • Are exclusive to a DOK 4 teaching and learning experience

these are the real-world problems and projects “that plague our cities and our world and touch each and every one of us” (p. 10). At some point, students will encounter an impossible or wicked issue, situation, or task that will not only test the depth and

©2022 by Solution Tree Press. All rights reserved.

Tame Problems

46

DECONSTRUCTING DEPTH OF KNOWLEDGE

extent of their learning but will try their ingenuity and tax their perseverance. That’s why these problems and projects are worth addressing.

Summary We need to understand how the DOK levels can be used to plan and provide teaching and learning experiences that are academically rigorous, socially and emotionally supportive, and student responsive. A DOK 1 teaching and learning experience requires students to acquire and develop the foundational knowledge and functional understanding they need to succeed in a specific subject. A DOK 2 teaching and learning experience challenges students to comprehend and communicate how they can apply the content knowledge accurately to answer questions, address problems, accomplish tasks, or analyze ideas and information. DOK 3 teaching and learning experiences engage students to analyze how and why they could use the content knowledge as evidence to examine and explain answers, actions, analyses, alternatives, or arguments—their own or those made by others. DOK 4 teaching and learning experiences encourage students to explore and explain with examples and evidence how they could understand and use the content knowledge deep within a subject area, among texts and topics, across the curriculum, or beyond the classroom. Each of these DOK teaching and learning experiences differs in its level of rigor. However, each level serves an important purpose and role in the delivery of teachers’ instruction and the development of students’ learning.

©2022 by Solution Tree Press. All rights reserved.

DOK 4 teaching and learning experiences will prepare our students and provide them with the personal expertise they need to address a wicked problem or accomplish an impossible project effectively and perhaps even successfully. However, teachers should not be required to plan or provide a DOK 4 teaching and learning experience with every unit or lesson. Students should also not be required to demonstrate their learning at a DOK 4 level unless the standard’s learning intention demands this. Treat and view DOK 4 teaching and learning experiences as an opportunity to enrich and extend students’ learning, not as a goal or expectation. Use DOK 4 teaching and learning experiences to encourage students to recognize and realize how they could develop their education, experience, and endowments into personal expertise. This will make teaching and learning for Depth of Knowledge academically rigorous, socially and emotionally supportive, and student responsive.

What Are DOK Teaching and Learning Experiences?

47

Understanding Depth of Knowledge Either on your own or as part of a teacher team, reflect on and respond to the following questions.

How could you use the DOK levels to develop and deliver teaching and learning experiences that are academically rigorous, socially and emotionally supportive, and student responsive?

•

How could you develop and deliver DOK 1 teaching and learning experiences that focus on knowledge acquisition?

•

How could you develop and deliver DOK 2 teaching and learning experiences that target knowledge application?

•

How could you develop and deliver DOK 3 teaching and learning experiences that engage students in knowledge analysis?

•

How could you develop and deliver DOK 4 teaching and learning experiences that encourage knowledge augmentation?

©2022 by Solution Tree Press. All rights reserved.

•

what many educators have been craving— a demystification of Depth of Knowledge.

In addition to providing practical, quality descriptors of each of the four DOK levels, he shares how the DOK levels can serve as a method and model that inform how teaching and learning experiences can be developed, delivered, and deepened.

Connecting DOK to learning intentions and success criteria and showing educators how they can align this work with their approach to tiered intervention make this book a must-have for all educators.”

• Discover how Depth of Knowledge works as a method, model, and mindset for teaching and learning • Ascertain the DOK level of academic standards, tasks, and assessments • Ask questions that prompt reflection at deeper DOK levels • Complete professional development activities on effectively using Depth of Knowledge

Knowledge demystifies the academic framework that has become the go-to for teaching and learning. His narrative guidance on the classroom application of Depth of Knowledge empowers readers to apply this theoretical academic framework to real teaching and instruction. As Francis explains throughout, DOK isn’t another ‘thing’ to do.

It's a way of thinking and being that leads to effective teaching and learning. Accessible explanations paired with instructional exemplars make this book an essential resource for all teachers and leaders.”

—KATIE MCKNIGHT CEO and Founder, Engaging Learners

Visit go.SolutionTree.com/instruction to download the free reproducibles in this book.

SOLUTIONTREE.COM

ISBN 978-1-951075-15-6 90000

9 781951 075156

FRANCIS

• Gain reproducible tools for deconstructing learning intentions and creating a DOK teaching and learning plan

“Erik Francis’s Deconstructing Depth of

of

KNOWLEDGE

A Method and Model for Deeper Teaching and Learning

K–12 teachers and leaders will:

—TOM HIERCK Educational Consultant and Author

DEPTH D E C O N S T R U C T I N G

KNOWLEDGE

Norman Webb’s Depth of Knowledge has become a priority in education to describe levels of cognitive complexity, but schools often misapply the framework in practice. Author Erik M. Francis clears up this confusion with his book Deconstructing Depth of Knowledge: A Method and Model for Deeper Teaching and Learning. This resource clearly defines Depth of Knowledge (DOK) and explains how the DOK levels can inform educators’ delivery and intensity of instruction. Through the method and model that Francis presents, readers will be able to determine the cognitive demand of academic standards, activities, and test items and provide responsive, supportive, and academically rigorous learning experiences for all their students.

DEPTH

A Method and Model for Deeper Teaching and Learning

DECONSTRUCTING

“In this book, Erik Francis has achieved

A Method and Model for Deeper Teaching and Learning

E R I K

M .

F R A N C I S

FOREWORD BY KARIN HESS